Nepe, I am sure Sajha readers are intelligent enough to understand what was and is going on. I think the stuff CLOSEST to the truth version, then and now, is this: Based on my own readings and analyses of situation in Kathmandu, I refused - again and again -- to be a part of the knee-jerk 'wah-wah' brigade of some of you America-residing Democrats. And the price I was made to pay for that refusal to toe the party line came in the form of TEMPORARILY being labelled by you and a few others as a "rajabaadi" -- which was both FALSE and therefore AMUSING to those who know the truth. I say temporarily because such a label might have fooled a few Sajha newcomers (who don't know me from Adam), but it never fooled many in Nepal who are quite familiar with my extracurriculr work here and the contacts I have developed in the past few years. After all, in politics, anyone can preach about life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from far away. But it's what you do in the field, by getting your hands dirty even if that's in a quiet way, that's what counts. I think you later found out that I really have ZERO connection with the palace, and I'd like to keep that relationship completely agnostic. That said, (as written above): "So, I was critical of the democratic movement, the way one is critical of one's best friend: You want him or her to do even better, and you provide unvarnished and no-nonsense advice to serve the friendship well. [True, only the friends with the strongest self-confidence appreciate this sort of frank give-and-take; the rest take grievous offence, and that's the way life is. :-( ] **** That said, my stance, then and now, is this: We Nepalis cannot do too many things at the same time. We should not even try, for we will fail on all counts. That is why, we have to pick and choose smaller goals that we can achieve, learn from our mistakes, and THEN move on to achieving bigger goals. A Jan Andolan is like mountain-climbing -- slow, steady and continuously upward progress is required. The present group of leaders is no good. It does not take four years to come to this easy realisation that: "In any case, this, to me, shows a sorry state of political leadership for the democratic movement in Nepal." IT ALWAYS was a in a sorry state. We saw it then, and that was why some of us had had a good laugh over your hitching the republican hopes onto the wagon of these netas. Nice partners! oohi ashu